This invention relates generally to EMI filter terminal subassemblies and related methods of construction, particularly of the type used in active implantable medical devices such as cardiac pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, cochlear implants, neurostimulators, active drug pumps, and the like and designed to decouple and shield undesirable electromagnetic interference (EMI) signals from an associated device. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved EMI filter that includes bonding pads for convenient attachment of lead wires by way of thermal or ultrasonic bonding, soldering or the like. The bonding pads can be part of the capacitor structure or be incorporated with a substrate with via holes and/or circuit traces.
Feedthrough terminal assemblies are generally well known for connecting electrical signals through the housing or case of an electronic instrument. For example, in implantable medical devices, the terminal pin assembly comprises one or more conductive terminal pins supported by an insulator structure for feedthrough passage from the exterior to the interior of the medical device. Many different insulator structures and related mounting methods are known for use in medical devices wherein the insulator structure provides a hermetic seal to prevent entry of body fluids into the housing of the medical device. In a cardiac pacemaker, for example, the feedthrough terminal pins are typically connected to one or more lead wires within the case to conduct pacing pulses to cardiac tissue and/or detect or sense cardiac rhythms. However, the lead wires can also undesirably act as an antenna and thus tend to collect stray electromagnetic interference (EMI) signals for transmission into the interior of the medical device. Studies conducted by the United States Food and Drug Administration, Mt. Sinai Medical Center and other researchers have demonstrated that stray EMI, such as RF signals produced by cellular telephones, can seriously disrupt the proper operation of the pacemaker. It has been well documented that pacemaker inhibition, asynchronous pacing and missed beats can occur. All of these situations can be dangerous or life threatening for a pacemaker-dependant patient. In prior devices, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,333,095 and 4,424,551 (the contents of which are incorporated herein), the hermetic terminal pin subassembly has been combined in various ways with a ceramic feedthrough capacitor filter to decouple electromagnetic interference (EMI) signals to the equipotential housing of the medical device.
In general, the ceramic feedthrough capacitor which has one or more passages or feedthrough holes is connected to the hermetic terminal of the implantable medical device in a variety of ways. In order for the EMI filter feedthrough capacitor to properly operate, a low impedance and low resistance electrical connection must be made between the capacitor ground electrode plate stack and the ferrule, which, in turn, mechanically and electrically connects to the overall conductive housing of the implantable medical device. For example, in a cardiac pacemaker, the hermetic terminal assembly consists of a conductive ferrule generally made of titanium which is laser-welded to the overall titanium housing of the implantable medical device. This not only provides a hermetic seal but also makes the ferrule of the hermetic terminal a continuous part of the overall electromagnetic shield that protects the electronics of the implantable medical device from electromagnetic interference. The ceramic feedthrough capacitor is, in turn, electrically and mechanically bonded to the ferrule of said hermetic terminal. In the past, and, in particular, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,333,095 and 4,424,551, the connection is typically performed using a thermal setting conductive adhesive. One such material is a silver flake loaded conductive polyimide.
It has been found that the type of conductive particles that are used in the liquid conductive polyimide (or a conductive epoxy) is quite important for proper high frequency performance. A conductive polyimide which is loaded with silver flakes tends to have much lower inductance and lower resistance at high frequency. This is because the silver flakes overlay each other which increases their flake-to-flake contact area. This has been shown to be superior over using silver spheres in that the spheres touch each other only at tangent points. Those tangent points make for a very small electrical contact area, thereby increasing the inductance and resistance of the overall material. This is not readily apparent at low frequency but becomes apparent as the impedance increases at high frequency. For example, in order for the ceramic feedthrough capacitor EMI filter to properly function as a bypass filter at cellular telephone frequencies from 450 megahertz to 3 gigahertz, it is extremely important that the connection material exhibit very low inductance, very low resistance and, therefore, very low impedance at these high frequencies. All of the same points are also applicable to the connection between the lead wires which pass in nonconductive relationship through the hermetic terminal. The inside diameter or feedthrough holes of the ceramic capacitor are electrically and mechanically connected to these feedthrough lead wires. In this way, the filter capacitor can properly decouple high frequency electromagnetic interference.
The amount of solids for silver flake loading tends to be approximately 20-45% of the overall volume of the conductive thermal setting adhesive. For example, in an ideal conductive polyimide, 38% of the constituents by volume would be silver flake, with the balance consisting of liquid polyimide and solvents.